Rhinoplasty is a branch of cosmetic surgery that aims to redesign the profile of a patient's nose. One particular case is correction by bone ablation of the bump on the ridge of the nose that is more pronounced in some people than in others. In order to perform this ablation, the surgeon uses motorised handpieces that impart specific back and forth movements to saw, file or plane type tools. An example of this type of handpiece is illustrated in FIG. 1 annexed to this Patent Application. Designated as a whole by the general reference number 1, the handpiece includes a generally cylindrical body 2 inside which are housed an electric motor and a shaft driven by the motor (not visible in the drawing). A coupling bushing 4 enables a tool 6, such as a saw blade, to be removably mounted on the drive shaft. The surgeon holds handpiece 2 in his hand by body 2 thereof. For this purpose, a grooved surface 8 can be provided, which will define a non-slip gripping area.
The success of the operation depends partly upon the quality of the handpiece and the tools used. It also partly depends upon the irrigation of the work area with physiological saline solution. This saline solution maintains the cutting and abrasion qualities of the tools at an optimum level and gradually removes bone debris and blood. Thus, body 2 of handpiece 1 is provided with a fluid feed pipe 10 at the end thereof that carries tool 6. In the example shown in FIG. 1, pipe 10 is mounted on a ring 12 which is slidably engaged on the nose 14 of handpiece 1. This pipe 10 is connected to a flexible tubing 16 through which the fluid arrives and which is used for directing a jet of fluid towards the operating field. However, the end 18 through which the jet of fluid emerges from pipe 10 cannot be arranged past coupling bushing 4, since this would prevent tool 6 from being easily mounted/removed. Thus, when the tool 6 is long, as is the case of the saw blade shown in FIG. 1, the physiological saline solution outlet point from the pipe 10 is far away from the working area of the tool. Irrigation of the working area is thus not precise and does not always occur in sufficient quantities.